As the popularity of the Internet continues to grow, new types of Internet-based services (or web-based services) are being developed and existing Internet-based services are expanding. In an effort to automate certain procedures, many applications are communicating with other applications and/or services via the Internet to accomplish various functions. These functions may be requested, for example, by an individual user, a business entity, an application program, or another web-based service.
Many web-based services operate in an asynchronous manner (i.e., an application or individual requesting an action from the web-based service may have to wait several minutes, days, or weeks for a response). This asynchronous operation causes problems for many typical applications. Typical applications function in a manner that expects a response within a relatively short time period, such as a few seconds. These applications generally wait for the expected response before continuing their normal operation. If a response is not received within a particular period of time (such as fifteen or thirty seconds), the application may “time-out” and generate an error message or other notice indicating that the expected response was not received in a timely manner. When attempting to use this type of application with web-based services that operate in an asynchronous manner, the application is unlikely to function properly.
Accordingly, there is a need for systems and methods that are capable of handling processes that interact with one or more asynchronous services.